La Vita at Orchard Hills

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I must be a trendsetter... I had cinder block piled up in my backyard for years.

It was a pain to clear out when we sold... I should have just put some pillows on it.

:)
 
We've had cinderblocks from a few houses ago (when we had to put in a wall). Hubby has brought those darn things to every house we've moved to. He has used them to hold long pieces of wood that he needed to cut for diy projects.

So I tell him there is NO WAY we r taking those things with us this time (4 car to 2 car garage that simply MUST fit both cars) and wouldn't you know he snuck them here.

They are going to be history but as luck would have it, they did come in handy. I'm too short to help him hold up long pieces of crown molding for 10 foot ceilings and no way we're getting another big ladder.

Each wall gets one big ladder for him and one set of cinderblocks on the floor and another set to form another step higher and then a 3 step stool for me to stand on with the cinderblock base.

First room came out pretty darn good. Took some figuring to get the angles cut in the corners but pretty happy with the results and price was wicked cheap.

Those cinderblocks ARE going............ after I'm finished with my honey do list.

In case anyone wants to do their own crown in multiple pieces (same method as making mantles, etc), we followed this guy's instructions:
http://www.thejoyofmoldings.com/crown-molding-103-2/

And we also did our own planked wall in that room and board and batten in the powder room which came out better than the builder's if I don't mind saying....... just need some art work and new towels and we're done.
 

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Ready2Downsize said:
crown molding for 10 foot ceilings came out pretty darn good.
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Vow, I am impressed, retired, mortgage free and still doing crown molding and kicking ass..  Awesome.  When are you going to post about your landscaping adventures?  Hiring a Landscape Architecht?
 
Hahahahaha! We're not as old as you might think. We just got married young and had my kids relatively young, especially by today's standards. (my kids told me their friend's parents were all at least 10 years older than us. I thought they were making things up......... till I met them).

No landscape architect. I'm designing the yard myself (like the last two we bought new). Little harder because we have so little yard. lol! I can't have everything I want due to the small lot size and HOA restrictions.

We will probably plant the plants (except big trees which shouldn't be many since...... no yard) but the rest will be professionally done.
 
Still dont understand the justification of why La Vita is now selling in the low $2m when Trevi is selling in the mid $2m and Amelia selling in the high $1m.  Both New Home Company homes are bigger. 
 
lovingit said:
Still dont understand the justification of why La Vita is now selling in the low $2m when Trevi is selling in the mid $2m and Amelia selling in the high $1m.  Both New Home Company homes are bigger.
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La Vita's pricing really isn't as off as some of the people in this thread claim it to be. It's starting in the low $2M range at this point because the only homes left for sale have city views. Trevi is selling in the low $3M range for homes with views. When non-view homes were still available in La Vita, prices started at the mid-high $1M. Trevi's non-view lots are selling for mid-high $2M. Sure, Amelia's homes are larger, but none of the homes offer views, and the lot sizes are very small for the houses built on them.
 
I was driving to check out la vita and messina and was annoyed at how many cars were parked out on the main street sunset cv where the houses are fully built. Makes the whole area look like some condo development.  Would never pay la vita prices to live there.
 
Double your investment of $1.7m in two years.  Who woulda thought?
But why would anyone buy a La Vita motorcourt with a view (4000 sq ft) for $3.8m when you can buy Trevi with a view (5500-6000 sq ft) for about the same price, probably even less?

Villager, I follow your post but even the Trevi view lots didn't double in price from $2.5m (in phase 1) to $5m like the La Vita view lots did.
 
Btw, that $3.65 million plan 4 listing has no view from the first floor.  Look at the backyard wall.  The model sold for $3.5mm.
 
lovingit said:
Double your investment of $1.7m in two years.  Who woulda thought?
But why would anyone buy a La Vita motorcourt with a view (4000 sq ft) for $3.8m when you can buy Trevi with a view (5500-6000 sq ft) for about the same price, probably even less?

Villager, I follow your post but even the Trevi view lots didn't double in price from $2.5m (in phase 1) to $5m like the La Vita view lots did.
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It?s difficult to tell how much the Trevi view lots have increased in price because the view lots they are selling now are overlooking the school, which are surely being accounted for in the prices. Plus the lots sizes in the newest view-lot releases are pretty small? seems like a 15 foot setback or less on some of them--okay for a house in Strada, but kind of disappointing for Trevi. Plus the Trevi prices you are referring to are not including upgraded finishes or landscaping (I couldn?t see someone living with the builder?s standard finishes in a $3M+ home, even if the upgrades were done after closing escrow). I?m sure the view lots sold in the first half of Trevi, which sit on larger lots and are not overlooking the school, could sell for much more than what La Vita homes are being resold for.

Regarding recent listing at 73 Sunset Cove, there?s no doubt that the house is grossly overpriced. It looks like they?re selling it as a view lot, which isn?t the case, as Goriot mentioned.
 
Villager said:
lovingit said:
Regarding recent listing at 73 Sunset Cove, there?s no doubt that the house is grossly overpriced. It looks like they?re selling it as a view lot, which isn?t the case, as Goriot mentioned.
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They call it a view lot, but first floor is blocked by an apartment wall and roof.  That is why they used block wall instead of glass wall in the backyard.  But they added tons of upgrade
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This one is plan 2 from the first phase.  I wonder if it was initially purchased as an quick investment property from the beginning.  But, what a nicely upgraded house.  Great job.  Now there is too many plan 2 supply (4 in total), but this one is a winner.

 
Looks like purchase price was $1.7M but I bet they invested $400k+ in yard + upgrades.  They're not making a killing.
 
Goriot said:
btw, is that walk in closet in photos 19/38 from Ikea?=) Looks similar.
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Assuming they invested an additional $400K, putting down 25% and paying for the entire upgrades in cash, carrying costs are probably in the range of $10K per month and total oop around $850K for the house plus $200K carrying costs going thru another 3 months.

Further assuming they can get $2.5 Million it's an almost perfect break even.

If they were able to get a tax write off (amount depending on their tax bracket) they should make money because their carrying costs would be lower and any gain would be tax free if they own it long enough. 

I would say they also got the benefit of living in the place but not sure anyone has lived there.

Some nice houses in La Vita!

 
aquabliss said:
Finally a La Vita resale that might be worth the price:https://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/113-Sunset-Cv-92602/home/58551724

This home is pretty freakin awesome, very well done and the back yard is amazing - nice and modern/sleek but not too over the top artsy. 

I would consider this house if my coffer was full enough.
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This is how a La Vita home should be done!  Totally agree, this is a pretty awesome home. 

Go for it man, jumbo mortage is not going to stay this low forever. :)
 
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